Finding himself

Watch a Degrassi-Era Drake Try His Hand at Improv

Fans of Canadian teenage drama know that before he was a successful, sensitive rapper named Drake, Aubrey Graham starred on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He never quite hides his past, but he doesn’t rush to appear on the reunion shows—although he did reunite with the cast in August 2015. But did you know that Drake, like many young, soul-searching teens, tried his hand at another form of self-expression before hitting on his solo rap career? That’s right; a newly surfaced video shows a young Aubrey Graham (to whom we’re going to refer as Drake because that’s how we all know him) doing improv.

In the three-minute clip filmed at Toronto’s Rivoli theater, Drake and a scene partner do some quality amateur “Yes, and . . . ”-ing. They step on each other’s lines a bit, but the general premise of the skit is that Drake is coming out to his friend. She’s telling him that she’s pregnant, and they’re inexplicably at the gym. This leads to a country western song about how she shouldn’t be lifting weights in her condition. Drake manages to demonstrate some of his early freestyle abilities, which mostly involve rhyming things with the word “gay.” Nobody said improvisers are known for their cultural sensitivity.

Even though Drake’s improv career never took off, this video demonstrates early signs of his comedic timing. It explains his always amusing S.N.L. hosting gigs. So thank you, anonymous person who uploaded this to the Internet. You’ve done a true public service.